Dry wall nail with a frusto-conical walled head and a serrated shank



Dec. 3, 1963 c. R. BRE NGER 3,112,667

DRY WALL NAIL T A F U TO-CONICAL WALLED HEAD A S TED SHANK Oct. 3. 1960INVENTOR.

CECIL R. BRENTLINGER $49. 5 BY yumm A TTOR/Vfy United States Patent3,112,667 DRY WALL NAIL WITH A FRUSTfi-CONICAL WALLED HEAD AND ASERRATEB SHANE Cecil R. Brentlinger, Kansas City, Mo, assignor to ArmcoSteel Corporation, a corporation of Ghio Filed Oct. 3, 1969, Ser. No.66,176 3 Claims. il. 85-28) My invention relates to nails, and moreparticularly to nails for use in dry wall construction.

In dry wall construction the joints and the heads of the nails usuallyhave a plastic material applied thereto, to hide said heads and jointsand to smooth the wall. It is desirable to have recesses in the face ofthe wall for the reception of this plastic material in order that itwill adhere to the surface of the wall. The recesses provide keyingmeans for the plastic material to prevent its detachment from thesurface of the wall. In order to provide such a recess the builder ofdry wall construction, in driving the nails into the composition boardsthat form the wall, intentionally indents the surface with the hammerhead to provide a recessed condition. However, if the nail head is flatthere will be a flat portion in the wall at the nail head, which willnot aid in keying'the plastic material to the Wall, but will interferewith such keying. It is accordingly a principal purpose of my inventionto provide a nail with a head that is recessed and which will remainrecessed after the nail has been driven so that the plastic coating orcovering material will be keyed to the nail head.

More specifically my invention comprises a nail that has a head that iscup-shaped or recessed, which has means in the recess or cup forpreventing flattening of the head when the nail is driven into a drywall panel. The head is preferably provided with an annular wall thatsurrounds a central projection, which annular wall flares outwardly fromthe base of the projection, the projection being provided to receive theblows of the hammer to reduce the flattening action of the hammer on theannular wall, which, due to the provision of such projection, remainsflaring although at a somewhat less angle than prior to the hammeringaction, the central projection being also somewhat reduced due to theblows of the hammer thereagainst.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention the central projection onthe head is of somewhat larger diameter at the base thereof than thediameter of the shank of the nail, which provides stiffening adjacentthe shank of the nail to reduce the tendency of the flaring annular wallto flatten, and said annular Wallis of a frusto-conical character withthe smaller end of the wall portion at the base of the centralprojection. While the central projection may vary somewhat in shape, itpreferably is also of a frusto-conical character with a flat outer endand an inclined side wall of a conical character.

By providing a central reinforcement to absorb the shock of the hammerblows, the dished or cupped condition of the nail head is maintained,thus providing an annular keying recess, between the central projectionand the flaring relatively thin side wall, for the plastic composition,that is ordinarily applied to joints and nail heads in dry wallconstruction.

Another important feature of my invention is that my improved nailprevents the popping or bulging of the same because the coveringmaterial did not properly adhere to the wall, and because the ordinarynail as usually made will remain in such a position that, as the woodframing to which the composition sheet of the dry wall is nailed, driesout, the shrinkage will cause the nail heads to be protruded beyondtheir original position with respect to the surface of the compositionboard. This will cause bulging or projecting of the nail heads if thecovering plastic material does not properly adhere thereto and willcause the covering material to be bulged or project fi'om its originalposition on the surface of the wall panel if it remains adhered to thenail head.

This is due to the fact that the pointed end of the nail,

whether the shank of the nail is smooth throughout or where grippingmeans extends to the point of the nail, will be held tightly in theinner moister part of the wooden frame member to which the panel isnailed, while the outer surface portion of the frame member will dry outand shrink. Thus the wall board panel will have a tendency to moveinwardly toward the point of the nail as the shrinkage of the wood framemember takes place and cause a corresponding projection of the nail headbeyond the position it originally had on the outer surface of the wallpanel. 1f the shrinkage is as little as one sixtyfourth of an inch itwill cause the so-called popping above referred to. 7 It is accordinglya purpose of my invention to provide a nail that is provided with meansthat provides a greater gripping power for (that portion of the nailthat will be in the part of the wooden frame member that dries out, andto provide less gripping power for the portion of the nail that is inthe moister part of the wooden frame member. In order to carry out thispurpose of my invention, I provide a nail that has a shank portion thatis smooth adjacent the point of the nail, and which has a grippingportion, made up of rings that extend around the shank, which will be inthe portion of the frame member, near the surface, that dries out, sothat as the drying takes place these gripping portions will pull on thenail so as to move the nail in an inward direction with the shrinkingwood, so that the head will not be projected beyond the surface of thewall panel because of shrinkage of the frame member. Preferably a smoothportion is provided on the nail from the tip or point of the pointed endportion to the gripping portion, which is substantially equal in lengthaxially of the nail to the gripping portion and a spacing for thegripping portion from the head of the nail is provided that is somewhatgreater than the axial length of the gripping portion, to thus place thegripping portion at the right location for it to be positioned in theportion of the wood frame member that dries out.

It i particularly desirable to provide such a gripping ringed portion onthe shank of a nail that is provided with a head that remains in arecessed condition after driving so that the smoothness of the wall ismaintained by the combined action of the keying by the recessed head andthe inward pulling action of the ringed portion to counteract theprojection of the nail head due to shrinkage of the wood into which thenail is driven. i

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear as thedescription of the drawings proceeds. I desire to have it understood,however, that I do not intend to limit myself to the particular detailsshown or described, except as defined in the claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary face view of a dry wall panel showing myimproved nail applied thereto.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view through the head andpart of the stem portion of my improved nail. 1

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken on the line 44 ofFIG. 1, and

FIG. 5 is a similar view, taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

Referring in detail to the drawings, my improved nail has a shank 6, ahead 7 and a pointed end 8. The head of my nail is cup-shaped orrecessed and has means in the recess or cup for preventing flattening ofthe head when the nail is driven into a dry wall panel. Such a dry wallpanel is shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5, the wall panel comprising surfaceplies 9 of fibrous material, which may be of a paper-like character, anda body portion 16 of gypsum plaster or similar hard material.

7 Referring to FIG. 3 it will be noted that the head of the nail isprovided with a central projection 11, which aligns with the shank 6 ofthe nail, and is of larger transverse diameter than the diameter of theshank 6. While the exact shape of the projection 11 may be varied, it

preferably has a fiat end wall 12 perpendicular to the axis of the shankand inclined side walls 13 that incline away from each other toward theshank 6, the projection 11 thus being of a frusto-conical character,with its base or widest portion adjacent the shank 6 and of greaterdiameter than height. Smd head is also provided with a relatively thinflaring wall portion 14, which inclines in the opposite direction to thewall portion 13, said wall portion 14 being of an annular character andalso frustoconical, having its base or largest diameter portion at theperiphery 15 of said head. Preferably the peripheral edge of the flaringwall portion 14 and the outer flat end 12 of the projection 11 are intransverse alignment, or substantially transverse alignment. The flaringwall portion 14 and the central projection 11 define an annular V-shapedgroove 16 extending around the head of the nail. My improved nail isalso provided with a gripping portion 17 on the shank thereof betweenthe head 7 and the point 3, said gripping portion being made up of ringsthat have a V-shaped cross section, with the holding surfaces of each ofsaid rings that extend perpendicularly to the axis of the shank of thenail being directed toward the head 7.

, In dry wall construction, the erector of the dry Wall sections orpanels ordinarily drives the nail in to such an extent that the head ofthe hammer that he uses provides an indentation in the face of thepanel, as shown at 18 in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5. This provides a recess inwhich the plastic material that is used as a finishing coat at theplaces where nailing is done and at joints in the dry wall, will bekeyed thereto so as to reduce the tendency of it to split off thesurface material 9. My improved nail is provided with the groove orrecess 16 for the purpose of increasing this keying action, particularlyat the nail heads, which, if flattened out, do not have the holdingaction that is desired for keying the plastic material to the nail head.While an ordinary dished headed nail, if it were kept in that condition,would serve to do such keying, the tendency of the driving action of thehammer against the head of such a nail to flatten it reduces the keyingaction between the head and the plastic coating material to a minimum.In order to avoid such a condition the projection 11 is provided.

In driving the nails, whether of the present invention or otherwise,into a dry wall panel member, these nails are seldom driven in straight.In fact some applicators of dry wall panels purposely drive them in at aslight oblique angle. However, in the case of the present invention itis immaterial whether the nail is driven in straight or at an angle, theprojection 11 will always act in the same manner to receive the blows ofthe hammer and thereby preserve the grooved character of the nail head.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 and comparing the same with FIG. 3, it willbe seen that after the nail, which is shown prior to driving, in FIG. 3,has been driven into the frame member 19 through the wall panel into itsfinal position, it will still be provided with a recessed head having agroove 16' therein, which corresponds to the groove 16, but is somewhatshallower, and will still have the projection thereon, which is somewhatflattened and reduced in height, being indicated by the numeral 11' inFIGS. 4 and 5. Also the angle of the flaring wall portion 14 relative tothe axis of the nail will be somewhat in- A. creased. However, a verydefinite keying groove 16' will be present in the head of the nail forthe plastic coating material.

The gripping portions 17 of the nail shank 6, it will be noted, are solocated and of such length axially of the nail, that the grippingportion 17 will have the approximate axial length of the portion of thenail between the end of the point 8 and said gripping portion, and thatV a smooth surfaced shank portion extends from the gripping portion 17to the head of the nail, which is of a somewhat greater length axiallyof the nail than the gripping portion 17. The position of the grippingportion 17 is such with respect to the length of the nail and thethickness of the wall board and the location of the pointed end 8 of thenail, that after the nail has been driven into the wooden frame member19, which is ordinarily a stud, the gripping portion 17 will be adjacentthe outer surface Ztl of the frame member and in the zone that willfirst dry out as the wooden frame member dries. Due to the position ofthe gripping portion 17 and the fact that the portion 21 of the nailbetween the point 8 and the gripping portion 17 is smooth surfaced andhas less gripping action than the portion 17, the holding action of theportion 21 will be less than the pulling action of the portion 17 in aninward direction as the wood dries and the nail will tend to moveinwardly further into the stud or other frame member, thus moving thehead 7 inwardly as this shrinkage takes place, holding the wall paneland the nail in the same relative position, thus preventing protrusionof the head 7 of the nail from the surface material 9, which causes thenail popping or bulging at the heads of the nails hereinbefore referredto. By providing the head with the groove 16 therein for keying theplastic coating material thereto and utilizing the gripping rings 17 onthe shank of the nail, any cracking off of any of the coating materialat the nail heads is avoided.

What I claim is:

l. A one-piece nail having a shank having a cup-shaped head at one endthereof comprising a central flat faced projection axially aligning withsaid shank and having a base of greater diameter than said shank and athin frustoconical wall of substantially uniform thickness surroundingsaid central projection and flaring upwardly and outwardly from the baseof said projection to the periphery of said head at an acute angle tothe axis of said shank to provide an annular groove V-shaped in crosssection in said head between said projection and wall extending fromsaid projection to the peripheral edge of said head, said centralprojection being of a height approximately equal to the axial height ofsaid wall to prevent flattening-of said head during driving.

2. A one-piece nail having a shank having a cup-shaped head at one endthereof comprising a central frusto-conical shaped projection of greaterdiameter than height axially aligning with said shank, having a base ofgreater diameter than said shank adjacent said shank and a thin conicalwall of substantially uniform thickness surrounding said centralprojection and flaring upwardly and outwardly from the base of saidprojection to the periphery of said head to provide an annular recessV-shaped in cross section in said head between said projection and wallextending from said projection to the peripheral edge of said head, saidcentral projection being of a height approxi mately equal to the axialheight of said wall to prevent flattening of said head during driving.

3. A one-piece nail having a shank portion having a point at one end anda cup-shaped head at the other end thereof integral therewith comprisinga frusto-conical shaped central projection axially aligning with saidshank, having a base diameter at least as great as the diameter of saidshank and a thin annular frusto-conical wall of substantially uniformthickness surrounding said central projection and flaring upwardly andoutwardly from the base of said projection to the periphery of said headat an acute angle to the axis of said shank to provide an annularV-shaped in cross section groove in said head between said projectionand Wall extending to the peripheral edge of said head, said centralprojection being of a height approximately equal to the axial height ofsaid wall to prevent flattening of said head during driving, grippingrings on said shank spaced from both said headed and pointed ends ofsaid shank, said shank being smooth surfaced between said gripping ringsand said pointed end, said rings extending over a length of said shankapproximately equal to the length of said shank from said rings to theend of the point thereon and the length of said ringed shank portionbeing less than the distance from said ringed portion to said head.

References {fit ed in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSAlden May 15, 1888 Titus July 9, 1907 Thomson Oct. 24, 1933 Maze July11, 1944 Parker d. Dec. 16, 1958 Hallock Fan. 10, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTSAustria Aug. 26, 1912

3. A ONE-PIECE NAIL HAVING A SHANK PORTION HAVING A POINT AT ONE END ANDA CUP-SHAPED HEAD AT THE OTHER END THEREOF INTEGRAL THEREWITH COMPRISINGA FRUSTO-CONICAL SHAPED CENTRAL PROJECTION AXIALLY ALIGNING WITH SAIDSHANK, HAVING A BASE DIAMETER AT LEAST AS GREAT AS THE DIAMETER OF SAIDSHANK AND A THIN ANNULAR FRUSTO-CONICAL WALL OF SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORMTHICKNESS SURROUNDING SAID CENTRAL PROJECTION AND FLARING UPWARDLY ANDOUTWARDLY FROM THE BASE OF SAID PROJECTION TO THE PERIPHERY OF SAID HEADAT AN ACUTE ANGLE TO THE AXIS OF SAID SHANK TO PROVIDE AN ANNULARV-SHAPED IN CROSS SECTION GROOVE IN SAID HEAD BETWEEN SAID PROJECTIONAND WALL EXTENDING TO THE PERIPHERAL EDGE OF SAID HEAD, SAID CENTRALPROJECTION BEING OF A HEIGHT APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE AXIAL HEIGHT OFSAID WALL TO PREVENT FLATTENING OF SAID HEAD DURING DRIVING, GRIPPINGRINGS ON SAID SHANK SPACED FROM BOTH SAID HEADED AND POINTED ENDS OFSAID SHANK, SAID SHANK BEING SMOOTH SURFACED BETWEEN SAID GRIPPING RINGSAND SAID POINTED END, SAID RINGS EXTENDING OVER A LENGTH OF SAID SHANKAPPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE LENGTH OF SAID SHANK FROM SAID RINGS TO THEEND OF THE POINT THEREON AND THE LENGTH OF SAID RINGED SHANK PORTIONBEING LESS THAN THE DISTANCE FROM SAID RINGED PORTION TO SAID HEAD.